On May 31st, 2012 the Maxwell family boarded a plane and moved to Swaziland to live at Project Canaan. I hope to update my blog on Saturday mornings and share, as honestly as I can, the highs and lows of our life in Africa. We are living on a farm in a remote part of this tiny Kingdom and are serving the community as well as the orphans and vulnerable children of the nation. The 365 day count down started on June 1st, 2011, but the real journey begins now. Thanks for joining us.

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Saturday, January 28, 2017

Yesterday we were driving from Swaziland to South Africa to
hop on a 16-hour flight to Atlanta.As we crossed the border, I quickly took a photo of a typical sight - a
strong, powerful, African woman, carrying her unbelievable load.I didn’t consider for a minute that I
would use it for today’s blog, but alas, it was the perfect image for today’s
message.

I am in awe of my African sisters, Aunts, Mothers and
Grandmothers.Their superhuman
strength, their unmatchable endurance and their love is never-ending.And while African culture is one
of living in community and sharing each others loads, we see that the AIDS
pandemic, coupled with the drought, has left the majority of Swazi women
carrying a big, big load on their own. There is no one left to help them.

Ian and I have had many people criticize us for going it
“alone” on Project Canaan.We have
also been accused of not being “qualified” to do our jobs.Those “nay-sayers” are always taken
aback when we laugh and completely agree.If we had applied for these jobs/roles with our marketing/business
resumes we would never have been considered.Instead, it was God who CALLED us to start the organization
with the promise that HE would be with us and HE would give us “one page at a
time”.This has not been an easy
journey, but He has never failed us.

We cannot do this alone, nor do we want to.

Over the years we have been overwhelmed and astonished at
WHO and WHEN the Lord sent experts in their fields to assist us.The list is so long that I will be
forced to leave the lions share out, but a few key people include: Pete
Wilkerson (landscape architect), Charles Mully (Kenyan advisor), Matt Marschall
(Agri-business appraiser), Tom Daniel (land developer), Jere Scott (renaissance
man, who kinda does it all), Annie Duguid (small/sick/abandoned baby expert
from Uganda), and the list goes on and on.

Typically these people arrive before we even know that we
need them, and then we are in awe again at the Lord’s provision.

This past week we were so blessed to welcome back, Annie
Duguid from Uganda.Annie is an
expert in early child developed and has personally rescued 1,080 Ugandan babies
who would certainly have died. She volunteered to come from for 5-weeks in
January 2012 to help get us set up, trained and prepared for the babies we knew
were coming. The day before Annie was to fly home, Joshua arrived, and we all
danced for joy. I was in the US when Annie called me and then I called Ian, who
was on the top of Project Canaan with Pete Wilkerson, working on more land
plans/water flow etc.

A month ago Annie messaged me to say that she had a week
where she could come back and see how we were doing, and her timing was
perfect.She was so happy to see
that many of the systems that she had implemented (without babies in here) were
still in place and effective. She was able to help us make improvements that
will help with early childhood development and stimulation, and we were all
overwhelmed (in a good way) with the knowledge that she shared with us. God is
good, all the time. And His timing is perfect.

This next month we will have many more highly trained and
qualified people coming to serve with us in the most extra-ordinary ways.

·Rick Cogbill and a team from Mercy Tech are
coming for two months do vocational training in the areas of mechanics and
welding for the third year.

·The Egg Farmers of Canada have a volunteer
coming to help us “harvest” the first flock of 2,500 hens and clean and prepare
the barn for the new flock arriving March 10th

·Northpoint Community church is sending a GlobalX
team, lead by Hannah Gaddis, to continue teaching our Children’s Ministry team
on how to teach our young children about Jesus. In addition they will educate
our 31 church pastors in some children’s ministry techniques, that will be fun
for all to see.

·Andrew Fisk from YWAM/EMERGE in Colorado, is an
expert in Aquaponics.He will be
coming for 2-weeks to start up and train us in the growing of fish and plants
in a enclosed eco-system.

Last but not least, the Harp family is leaving us on Monday,
after volunteering in Swaziland for the past 3-months.Barry is a CPA, who has been invaluable
in creating systems at Khutsala, and Shelly’s heart for woman’s has been a
blessing to all whom she has touched.Their boys loved our children and our children loved them back!

All this so say that it really does take a village to raise
a child, and we are thankful for the global community who have come alongside
us in the past and will come in the future.It's a wonderful living example of the body of Christ coming
together with its many parts.

Saturday, January 21, 2017

This is NOT a politically driven blog.I promise.I am a Canadian, living on a mountaintop in a tiny African
Kingdom (with the last absolute Monarch in Africa), just thinking about a world
filled with fear.

Today I am speaking to people who would call yourself a
“Christian” or a “follower of Jesus”. What are you afraid of today and why are you afraid?

Did you know that there are 365 references in the bible that
we are to “fear not” or “not be afraid”?I find it an interesting ‘coincidence’ that it’s the same number as days
in the year.We are reminded each
and every day that we are not to be afraid. Why? Because God has a plan and His
plans are better than our plans.We may not understand His plans, we may not agree with His plans, but He
is God, and we are not.

I can’t tell you how many people have confessed to me that
their biggest fear when they became a Christian was that God would send them to
Africa. And while many of them
were saying it tongue-in-cheek, there was a hint of truth in their confession.

But here I am, writing this blog in Africa.And I am not afraid.I do not fear snakes, or spiders, or
fundraising (or lack of fundraising), or government official visits, or
surprise police visits, or receiving three babies in a day, or HIV/AIDS, or
multiple drug-resistant TB.No, I
am not Superwoman, and believe me, I have my own “stuff”, but I don’t struggle
with fear, so I find myself talking with others about it frequently.

On January 11th I read a shocking, yet wonderful
devotion by Oswald Chambers. He explains, “If
we obey God, it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that
is where the pain begins. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not
cost us anything— it is a delight. But to those who do not love Him, our
obedience does cost a great deal. If we obey God, it will mean that other
people’s plans are upset. They will ridicule us as if to say, “You call this
Christianity?” We could prevent the suffering, but not if we are obedient to
God. We must let the cost be paid.”

I believe that the reason I have no reason to be afraid is
because I am being obedient in my actions, and so my obedience is rewarded with
delight. I AM FAR FROM PERFECT (ask my husband or children – or don’t!), but I
am intentional in my desire to do what HE wants me to do.If you are being obedient to the Lord
in your daily walk with Him, then you should not be afraid of anything.

This week we welcomed two new long-term volunteers named
Leanna McKnight and Bryan Throgmorton.Leanna is here for a year as our Kindergarten teacher and Bryan has
moved in to the Emseni boys dorm as our Program Director.While they have not shared this with
me, I have no doubt that they have family and friends who did not want them to
move because they were afraid, for them, and/or for themselves.But they put their own fears aside (if
they even had any) and said YES.

I have no doubt that Leana and Bryan will be filled with
delight in the days and months ahead because of their obedience. I know that
our children and our staff will benefit in such a mighty way because of their
obedience.Please join us in
praying for peace, strength and for His delight (joy) for these volunteers and
all of our other long-term volunteers.

As you deal with your own fears this week and maybe the fear
of the unknown (and while you give thanks that you weren’t called to live in
Africa!), please rest in the truth of the scripture from Isaiah 41:10
(Amplified) that says,

Do not fear anything, for I am with you;

Do not be afraid, for I am
your God.I will strengthen you, be assured I will help you;I will certainly take hold of you with

my righteous right hand,

a hand of justice,

of power,

of victory,

of salvation.

Live from Swaziland … delighting in rain this week!

Janine

For those of you who heard about Deborah's surgery, she is home and doing very well. Apparently learning how to drive today before her 4th birthday.

Saturday, January 14, 2017

In 2008 we were leading a team of volunteers in Swaziland from
the US and welcomed a family from Charlevoix, Michigan.I remember them will for a variety of
reasons. First, the father was a dentist and was going to work with Dr. Mark
McGee doing dental work for the whole week. The second reason was that her
brother (a strong, fit young man) fainted out in a homestead visit while we all
stood and held hands to pray. He was dehydrated and anyone who has traveled
with us since then has heard us tell how important it is to drink a lot of
water because he this young man could get dehydrated, anyone could.(As an aside, he chipped his tooth when
he fell and his dentist father had to glue the tooth back together back at the
hotel. Great to have a dentist as your father).

The third reason that I remembered them was that almost all
of their luggage was lost, and the 14-year-old girl (Jane) had none of her own
clothes to wear.Most girls that
age would be very upset, but Jane just went with it and even had to borrow
clothes from her older brother all week without a single complaint.Her luggage never did arrive and since
that trip the whole family only travels with carry-on luggage!

Today I saw that young girl, Jane, again. She is now
23-years-old.In fact, Jane has
been with us for the past month here in Swaziland.She and Spencer have been dating for the past few years and
have now graduated from University.Both plan to go on to graduate school and decided to take the next two
months to go on a trip of a lifetime (as if Africa wasn’t enough!).

Today we put them on a shuttle to Johannesburg where they
will take an 8-hour flight to Abu Dhabi.Then they will take another 8-hour flight to Vietnam.They will backpack through Vietnam for
23 days and the move on to Thailand for 20 days, finishing up their adventure
in Indonesia for 17 days.

We are so incredibly proud of both of them and their desire
to stretch themselves, learn about the world, and learn about each other as
they look towards and unknown future in a world where nothing is certain.

What they both do know for sure is that God brought them
together when they were 13/14-years old and God has a plan for their lives. As
we said goodbye to them, Ian prayed over them for protection, peace and
joy.We look forward to following
their adventures over the next months, and there is a part of us that envies
the carefree time that they have to explore the world.

So, what is the moral of this story? You just never know who
you are going to meet on an 11-day service trip with Heart for Africa!

Live from Swaziland … our nest is empty again (except for
the other 148).

Saturday, January 7, 2017

This blog is likely a bit more for moms than dads, but I
encourage for dads to read it anyway so that you have a glimpse in to what may
go through your wife’s mind during the Christmas season.I am certainly not claiming to be the
voice for all women or moms, but I think I might be speaking for a few of you.

We want every day of the holiday season with our family and
friends to be perfect. Absolutely perfect. Every cookie, every wrapped gift, every cup of coffee,
every meal, every light on the tree, every piece of music chosen, every
interaction between family members and especially every conversation.We think about what we can do to
stretch the hours in the day so no moment is wasted? How early can we get up so
that the kitchen smells good and how late can we go to bed so that the house
looks perfect?

Making the "perfect" brunch for 98 children and 60+ staff.

How do we prepare meals in advance so that we maximize our
time with our family and not waste it doing things like dishes, laundry, taking
out the garbage etc.

It’s exhausting, and that exhaustion, combined with
unrealistic expectations, almost always leads to chaos and tears.

Our family is not immune to the above picture, and mom is at
the center of the dilemma (I am referring to me as mom, not my mom).

Our family is complicated, as is yours.Our complication is just different than
your complication.We hadn’t been
together as a family since last Christmas and I wanted Christmas to be even
more perfect than last year. But here’s the rub.We have ALL changed in a year. We have all grown older, more
mature (I hope), have had more hurts during the year, more joys, more
experiences and we all arrive at Christmas, changed.

What I learned this year at Christmas, despite my inability
to deliver the perfect Christmas is that grace has to be at the center of our
Christmas activities, and my family exhibited that in a wonderful way. Grace starts with each of us and as the focus
of Christmas is Jesus, we are reminded that Jesus was the ultimate grace-giver.

Chloe, Ian and Jane making home made vanilla ice cream (with farm fresh eggs of course).

Despite my own fears and failures, I had the very best Christmas
with my amazing family.I am
unspeakably proud of the young man that Spencer has become as he graduated from
Georgia State University and as I watched him working on his applications for
his Masters in International Business schools.I am unspeakably proud of Chloe who spent 35 hours traveling
to Africa and 35 hours traveling back to Canada while talking through the
decision to change her University focus from sociology to business.

Both of these young people have navigated their
University/College years with our 100% support, but it was from 8,600+ miles
away.We haven’t been there in
person to help with buying a used car, getting new passports, navigating an
apartment lease, dealing with banking, or more importantly, heart break, tears,
fears, anger, joy or excitement that they face each and every day.That has all been done by phone or
Skype, which just isn’t the same as a real hug, a real tissue a real shoulder
to cry on.

Enjoying the first smoked pork butt made in Ian's new Green Egg!

All that being said is that I find myself beating myself up
(as I know many of you do) and doing the “coulda, woulda, shoulda”, that moms
do.But then I remember what
someone told me years ago, that every parent tries to do the best they can with
what they have and what they know.I know that I am doing that, and I am sure that you are too.

I would never have written my parenting life the way it has
turned out. Afterall, who in their
right mind would pack up and move to Africa (period), especially when their
children are still in school!It’s
crazy. But God’s plans are perfect (and can appear crazy). Now we have 146
children who are brothers and sisters to Spencer and Chloe.I can’t imagine my life without them
all.

The photo that makes it all worth while.

I am thankful for a heavenly Father who extends grace to me
each and every day and shows me that He can use me even through my own fears,
anger, frustration and doubt.I
pray that as you enter in to 2017, that you will also feel his love and grace
in your life and that you will allow Him to use you, even through your fears,
your anger, your frustration and your doubt.

Live from Swaziland … here’s to a new year.

Janine

We got a few days in Durban with the kids before Chloe flew home. The "perfect" spot for us.